FSU researcher David Rubin is part of a team that discovered three new exploding stars — or supernovae — using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

The light from these exploding stars can help illuminate dark matter in space, paving the way for scientists to test the most precise map to date of galaxy clusters and the matter within them.

Rubin, a physicist, said this is possible because the galaxy clusters act almost as a cosmic lens. The gravity field of the clusters bends light as it passes through. That effect, called gravitational lensing, makes distant objects that might be too faint to be seen otherwise larger and brighter. Two teams working independently simultaneously confirmed the existence of these new exploding stars.

2 FSU grads off to Oxford

Two FSU graduating seniors will be studying at the University of Oxford this fall after being named Frost Scholars in the inaugural year of the scholarship program. Lawrence Dunn and Samantha Siegel will begin their studies at Oxford in October 2014.

They are among 10 recipients of scholarships through the Frost Scholarship Programme, which funds current State University System of Florida students for one-year, full-time master’s courses in STEM fields at Oxford. The program, which is supported by the Phillip and Patricia Frost Philanthropic Foundation, covers 100 percent of university and college fees and provides a grant for living costs.

The University of Oxford, located in Oxford, England, is a leading research university and is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

FSU researcher studies nutrition myths

A new paper by FSU assistant professor Michael Ormsbee and his Human Performance and Sports Nutrition Lab finds that common perceptions about carbs and proteins may need to be reexamined.

Ormsbee reviewed the current research on pre-activity nutrition for a special “Sports Nutrition” issue in the journal Nutrients. Though carbs do work, there’s been no significant research on other food groups to compare and contrast effectiveness. Ormsbee’s lab is launching a number of upcoming studies to investigate performance, health and body composition advantages to different foods and supplements for both endurance and strength athletes.

Ormsbee and doctoral students Dan Bauer and Chris Bach examined research that had been the standard for the past few decades in sports nutrition.

Study links perceptions, worse health

Perceived age and weight discrimination, more than perceived race and sex discrimination, are linked to worse health in older adults, according to new research from FSU’s medical school.

The findings are part of a study measuring changes in health over a four-year period and published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Sutin and colleagues found that older adults who perceived weight discrimination and older adults who perceived discrimination based on age, a physical disability or other aspect of appearance had significantly lower physical and emotional health and greater declines in health compared to people who did not report experiencing such discrimination.

In contrast, perceived discrimination based on relatively fixed characteristics — race, sex, ancestry and sexual orientation — were largely unrelated to declines in physical and emotional health for the older adults.

‘Great Give’ at FSU exceeds goal

FSU’s Great Give, the university’s 36-hour online giving campaign, surpassed its previous year’s total, raising $133,024 for academic programs and scholarships.The third annual event, which took place April 17-18, exceeded FSU’s goal by 16 percent and it saw an increase in the number of donors and the average gift amount.

More than 1,200 donors contributed an average gift of $106 to a wide variety of projects and initiatives. The university’s Marching Chiefs, for example, raised more than $19,000 — more than three times their goal — to purchase new brass instruments.